When is a conference not a conference? When it’s SoCal UX Camp, the user experience “unconference” taking place August 13th in Irvine, California. The one-day event may be short but it’s certainly set to be sweet, with a keynote from UX guru Jared Spool and a ton of inspiring UX sessions.

Justinmind is excited to be sponsoring SoCal UX Camp with 3 prototyping tool licences up for grabs by attendees.

SoCal UX Camp: share, present, network, learn & discuss

SoCal UX Camp looks set to be a chilled event where idea-sharing is the order of the day. Not a UX Designer per se, but still down with user experience? Don’t worry – the event has an avowedly broad appeal: everyone from content strategists and brand managers, to product managers and information architects can get involved.

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Insecure & Unintuitive: How we need to fix the UX of security

Obviously, Jared Spool’s keynote is going to be a doozy. Jared is one of the biggest names in usability and UX design; he’s been in the field since the 1970s, is the founder of User Interface Engineering and gives some of the best conference talks in the UX/Usability field. Don’t believe us? Just check out this enlightening talk on building a UX strategy with the Kano Model.

At SoCal UX Camp, Jared will give a keynote on a topical and relevant subject – security. ‘Insecure & Unintuitive: How we need to fix the UX of security‘ will focus on the maddeningly bad UX of our current online security systems (remembering 10 passwords, anyone?) As Jared spells out, security doesn’t make for sexy UX, but when we get it right there are big wins to be had – reduced risk and higher user engagement, for starters.

Jared will talks about building authentication-friendly architecture, cutting security-related user frustration, and “how to keep the Paranoids at bay without degrading the user experience.” Don’t miss it!

Anarchy in the UX

With probably the best session title we’ve ever come across, Paul Lumsdaine‘s punk presentation is a homage to “the vast chaos in the world of design and devising digital experiences.” Product Strategist Paul will present on the need to continually challenge our UX beliefs, to see user experience design as a mission not as a 9-5 and, most importantly, to bring a little punk rock to our UX design processes.

The Business of UX – Being a Designer is not Enough

All too often, says Frank Garofalo, UXers are missing a trick. Yes, they design, they do user research, they develop and test from wireframe to finished product (and beyond!). But what about the benjamins? Frank argues that being able to prove the value of your UX activities in business terms ia an integral part of UX design.

Frank will talk about weighing organizational needs against user needs, thinking about sales and strategy, and the relation between UX and the bottom line.